His name was Marine Lance Cpl. Justin Wilson - although I did not know it when his life brushed mine on March 25 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Lance Cpl. Wilson was not there in the terminal that afternoon; at age 24 and newly married, he had been killed in Afghanistan on March 22 by a roadside bomb. A coincidence of overbooked flights led our lives to intersect for perhaps an hour, one I will never forget.

I did not meet his family that day at the airport, either, although we were there together that evening at the gate, among the crowd hoping to board the oversold flight. I did not know that I had a boarding pass and they did not. I did not know they were trying to get home to hold his funeral, having journeyed to Dover, Del., to meet his casket upon its arrival from Afghanistan.

I also did not know that they already had been stuck for most of the day in another airport because of other oversold flights. But I did not need to know this to realize what they were going through as the event unfolded and to understand the larger cause for it. No matter how we as a nation have relearned the lesson forgotten during Vietnam - that our military men and women and their families deserve all the support we can give them - despite our nation's fighting two wars in this decade, it is all too easy for most of us to live our lives without having the very great human cost of those wars ever intrude.

But it did intrude heartbreakingly that day at the airport gate. It began simply enough, with the usual call for volunteers: Anyone willing to take a later flight would receive a $500 flight voucher. Then came the announcement none of us was prepared to hear. There was, the airline representative said, a family on their way home from meeting their son's body as it returned from Afghanistan, and they needed seats on the flight. And there they were, standing beside her, looking at us, waiting to see what we would decide. It wasn't a hard decision for me; my plans were easily adjusted. I volunteered, as did two women whom I later learned sacrificed important personal plans.

But we three were not enough: Six were needed. So we stood there watching the family - dignified and mute, weighed with grief and fatigue - as the airline representative repeatedly called for assistance for this dead soldier's family. No one else stepped forward. The calls for volunteers may have lasted only 20 or 30 minutes, but it seemed hours. It was almost unbearable to watch, yet to look away was to see the more than 100 other witnesses to this tragedy who were not moved to help. Then it did become unbearable when, in a voice laced with desperation and tears, the airline representative pleaded, "This young man gave his life for our country, can't any of you give your seats so his family can get home?" Those words hung in the air. Finally, enough volunteers stepped forward.

I had trouble sleeping that night; I could not get out of my mind the image of the family or the voice pleading for them.When I met my fellow volunteers the next morning at the airport, I found I was not alone. One had gone home and cried, and another had awakened at 3 a.m.; all of us were angry and ashamed that our fellow passengers had not rushed to aid this soldier's family and consequently had forced them to be on public display in their grief. We worried that this indifference to their son's sacrifice added to their sorrow.

It turned out my destination was his hometown, so I was able to learn his name and more. I learned he had been a talented graffiti artist and had married his sweetheart, Hannah, the day before he deployed to Afghanistan. They planned a big wedding with family and friends for after he returned home. I learned how proud he was to become a Marine in January 2009. I learned that he and his fellow Marines liked to give the candy they received from home to Afghan children. In sum, I learned that he was the kind of honorable, patriotic young person we want defending our country and how great our loss is that he had to give his life in doing so.

I posted a message to his family on the online condolence book. I told them I was sorry for what they went through in trying to see their son's body home, but because of it, many more people were going to have heard of Justin and his dedication to his country: I was going to tell everyone I knew about what I had witnessed and tell them his name. And I have.

I thought that was enough, until I received a thank-you note from Lance Cpl. Wilson's father-in-law.It was a completely humbling experience; he wrote that he was glad I had been able to learn about Justin, and he wanted me to know that Justin "served knowing the risks, but felt it was his obligation and privilege to serve his country." At that moment, I realized that in this day of an all-volunteer military and a distant war that touches so few of our lives directly, more people should hear the story of Lance Cpl. Wilson and his family.

I've thought a lot about what happened that day in the airport, and I choose to believe my fellow passengers were not unfeeling in the face of a soldier's death and a family's tragedy. They were just caught off guard - they were totally unprepared to confront the fierce consequences of the war in Afghanistan on their way to Palm Beach on a sunny afternoon.And I believe it was for this reason that people did not rush to the podium to volunteer their seats. It was not that they did not want to, and it was not that they did not think it was the right thing to do. Rather, it was because they were busy trying to assimilate this unexpected confrontation with the irrevocable cost of war and to figure out how to fit doing the right thing into their plans - to fit it into their lives not previously touched by this war. In the end, enough of us figured out how to do the right thing, and it turned out as well as such a painful situation could.

But still I wonder: Barring some momentous personal event that necessitated a seat on that flight, how could any of us even have hesitated? How could we have stopped to weigh any inconvenience to our plans against the sacrifice Lance Cpl. Wilson and his family had made for our country? In such circumstances, it is not a question of recognizing the right thing to do; we should know it is the only thing to do.

From what I have learned of him, in his short life, Lance Cpl. Wilson created a legacy of courage and patriotism that will not be forgotten by those who knew him. I hope there's a greater legacy as well. I hope through this account of his family's struggle to see him home, if ever again the war intrudes unbidden on my life or yours, we will know what we must do, and in their honor, and for all those who serve and sacrifice, we will do it.

War was forced on Americans not long ago. Similarly to the way it was in '41.Then, Americans stepped forward to do a job.A job as important as the world.And they did such a fine job, that they were dubbed, 'The Greatest.'They were the ones chosen to save the world.Some victories are bittersweet, Many did not make it home.

He repeated the administration argument that the enemy is not "terrorism," because terrorism is a "tactic," and not terror, because terror is a "state of mind" -- though Brennan's title, deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism and homeland security, includes the word "terrorism" in it. But then Brennan said that the word "jihad" should not be applied either.

"Nor do we describe our enemy as 'jihadists' or 'Islamists' because jihad is a holy struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam, meaning to purify oneself or one's community, and there is nothing holy or legitimate or Islamic about murdering innocent men, women and children," Brennan said.

Well yes, jihad is about "purifying the community". Its about eliminating all non-moooslims and subjugating everyone to sharia law. Who else wanted to "purify the community"? Adolf Hitler? Pol Pot? Mao Tse Tung?

The man is not as stupid as that statement would seem to imply, so what is the reasoning behind the statements, and why did he say it?

Has it really come to this? Yahoo News' Brett Michael Dykes reports that BP paid busloads of temporary cleanup workers to show up as stage props for President Obama's visit to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill cleanup operations on Grand Isle.

Dykes quoted Jefferson Parish councilman Chris Roberts who said "the overnight contingent of workers was there mainly to furnish a Potemkin-style backdrop for the event — while also making it appear that BP was firmly in command of spill cleanup efforts. New Orleans NBC affiliate WDSU reports that the workers were paid $12 an hour and came mostly from neighboring Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes."

Obama was enjoying a bit of a recovery in the presidential approval numbers earlier in the week, after hitting the lowest point of his presidency. You think BP also paid those four percentage points to show up for the president in the latest Rasmussen polling?

Friday, May 28, 2010

He has a post up at his blog, The Barr Code stating that census workers can enter your apartment without your consent. At least his comments are showing that many knowledgeable people are refuting this idiocy. Please join them and add your voice to tell Mr. Barr what an idiot he is. Thank God that his candidacy for office was a failure.

So, get this straight......

Bob. Barr. Is. Lying. And. An. Idiot.

As a census worker, not only am I not allowed to enter a home or apartment without consent, I am not allowed to enter WITH THE CONSENT OF THE HOME OWNER.

We have been specifically told to DECLINE any invitations to enter a home. PERIOD EFFING STOP.

The United States was not the only country in the Americas to use DDT to great effect. Table 1 details the dramatic impact of DDT on malaria cases in selected countries in the Americas. Notably, success was greatest in island countries, where the vector could be contained most easily. In 1955, WHO launched its own malaria eradication program, based on the extraordinary successes seen thus far with DDT. The program was funded mostly by the U.S. government.

Last week, Nina Easton, the Washington editor of Fortune, wrote a column about the SEIU and National People's Action. The two progressive [Marxist] groups had sent roughly 500 protesters to Easton's Chevy Chase neighborhood on May 16th to picket the front yard of Bank of America's Greg Baer. Easton had just put her 2-year-old son down for a nap, and stepped outside to ask the protesters to quiet down. They didn't. Easton wrote a column. And now she's become the target of the SEIU and Media Matters for America.

Why? Because Easton, by "refusing" to disclose her husband's relationship with Bankof America, was misleading her audience at Fortune, and the viewers of FOX News, where she commented on the protest. The only problem? There is no relationship between Easton's husband and Bank of America.

According to SEIU blogger John Vandeventer, “one Google search” reveals that Easton’s ”husband is Russell Schriefer, Republican strategist and consultant to several big corporate interest groups. In fact, her husband’s client list includes the Business Roundtable, a special interest group that counts Bank of America and other Wall Street banks among its members.” Media Matters’ Brian Frederick reprinted the same intel, citing Vandeventer. Both writers suggested that Easton had committed journalistic malpractice by not revealing her husband’s business doings.

But according to a source close to the family, both writers are wrong. Yes, Russell Schriefer worked with the Business Roundtable–once, during the 90s. And yes, he’s worked for the Chamber of Commerce, but not since 2006. Currently, his firm “primarily does media for Republican senate, governor and presidential candidates”–not Bank of America.

H/T to my Bud BiggB-Not sure if its real or not, but it pretty much validates my comments in the previous post and the point is the same, except that the Prince of Fools has a Court and the Court is the real power and they know the citizenry are fools. The problem with fools is they are unpredictable, have no morals, have no sense of fair play or justice, have weapons, and are, based on empirical data, extremely prone to violence when confronted with reason or logic, or for no reason at all. Wanton violence is evil. Evil cannot be reasoned with.

Some people have the vocabulary to sum up things in a way you can understand them. This quote was translated into English from an article appearing in the Czech Republic and these folks know what it’s like to live under a Totalitarian Regime. The article was published in the Prager Zeitung on April 28, 2010 .

“The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president.”

“The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America . Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince.

The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their president.”

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

We'd have wall to wall coverage of the trial; Reverend Al would be in front of any camera with initials on it, ranting about racism and intimidation; Reverend JJ would be ready to cut off gonads; Prissy Matthews would have tingles up both legs and would probably be peeing down one of them in excitement. You see, us white folks can't have a New White Panther Party for Self-Defense cause that would be RACIST. We can't have an NAAWP, cause that would be RACIST. We can't have a United Caucasian College Fund cause THAT WOULD BE RACIST!!!!

But a bunch of thugs and punks from the ghetto, who think they're cool cause they wear mooooslim headgear and long robes can resurrect another gang of thugs and punks and claim its for self-defense. (Right about now, I wish I hadn't put restrictions on what can be published on the blog, cause I'm ready to rant)

Washington, DC -- May 25, 2010 - Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Obama Justice Department to obtain documents related to the agency’s decision to dismiss the claims against several members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense who were accused of engaging in voter intimidation during the 2008 presidential campaign (U.S. v. New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense).

Judicial Watch filed its original FOIA request on May 29, 2009. The Justice Department acknowledged receiving the request on June 18, 2009, but then referred the request to the Office of Information Policy (OIP) and the Civil Rights Division.

On January 15, 2010, the OIP notified Judicial Watch that it would be respondingto the request on behalf of the Offices of the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, Associate Attorney General, Public Affairs, Legislative Affairs, Legal Policy, and Intergovernmental and Public Liaison.

On January 15, the OIP also indicated that the Office of the Associate AttorneyGeneral found 135 pages of records responsive to Judicial Watch’s request, but that all records would be withheld in full. On January 26, the OIP advised Judicial Watch that the Office of Public Affairs and Office of Legal Policy completed their searches and found no responsive documents. On February 10, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division indicated that after an extensive search it had located “numerous responsive records” but determined that “access to the majority of the records” should be denied. On March 26, the OIP indicated that the Office of Legislative Affairs and the Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison completed searches and found no documents.

Judicial Watch appealed the determinations of the Office of the Associate Attorney General and the Civil Rights Division. To date, Judicial Watch has received neither aresponse regarding searches conducted by the Offices of the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, nor responses to its two administrative appeals prompting its lawsuit. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, an independent, bipartisan unit of the federal government charged with investigating and reporting on civil rights issues, has also initiated a probe of the Justice Department’s decision to dismiss its lawsuit.

The Justice Department originally filed its lawsuit against the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense and several of its members following an incident that took place outside of a Philadelphia polling station on November 4, 2008. A video of theincident showing a member of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense brandishing police-style baton weapon was widely distributed on the Internet.

According to multiple witnesses, members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense attempted to block access to polling stations, harassed voters and hurled racial epithets. Nonetheless, the Justice Department ultimately allegedly overruled the recommendations of its own staff and dismissed the majority of its claims.

“The Obama administration owes the American people an explanation. How can the Justice Department dismiss a clear-cut case of voter intimidation involving the use of a weapon? Are voting rights important at the Justice Department? If there is nothing to hide, then Eric Holder should release this information as the law requires. And this is just one more example of how Obama’s promises of transparency are a big lie,” said Judicial Watch Tom Fitton.

Zero owes us a country. What an arrogant, self-centered piece of dog crap.

All you idots who voted for this piece of offal should be hanging your head in shame about now. You managed to put the one politician in office who could destroy everything your forebears worked hard to build. I hope when you die, your ancestors are lined up waitng to bitch-slap you for being so incredibly stupid.

"Today, ignorance about Islamist ideology is widespread, even after decades of attacks have made Islamic terrorism the top U.S. security challenge. Salafism, in particular, remains a mystery to most Americans, though it is the enemy's animating ideology. Islamists have used our ignorance to great effect."

Only by returning to the Islam of the founders could the umma -- the Muslim Nation -- reverse its political, economic and social torpor. This would require faithfully implementing the divine law, sharia.

With sharia's injunctions firmly in place, the Muslim Nation would inevitably rise to the hegemony that was Allah's due. "It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to bedominated," Banna taught. The mission of Islam is "to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet." (Emphasis mine)

but its getting warmer and our little violin marked, 6-eyed demon spider from hell, the Missouri Brown Recluse is up and scurrying around dry dark places.

Its called a recluse for a reason: it likes to stay out of sight. It likes empty shoes especially. They build a unique tri-sided web, mostly in closets and behind counters, but will set up house in just about any corner thats usually hidden by a door thats always open.

I have had run-ins with these nasty little creatures and was almost bitten once. I actually picked one up and managed to let go right as his fangs were about to enter my finger. I hope he enjoyed his last ride.

"Brown Recluse spiders are the Navy seals, the Green Berets...and the Top Guns of the spider world."Kansas State University - Brown Recluse Research Project

He will also bite as he is being crushed by a foot sliding into a shoe. I know a man who was bitten by a brown recluse, (in Missouri, of all places), in the late 60's. He never fully recovered, and he walked with a limp til the day he passed away some 30 years later. He was bitten on his toe as he was putting his slippers on. He never saw the spider. He thought it was a piece of trash that had fallen into his slipper and caused a slight pin prick as his foot slid in. He almost lost his leg.

I used to drive a moving van when I was younger. I got to meet a lot of interesting and educated people. I moved one of the engineers who helped developed the Space Shuttle program for NASA down to Houston after the first successful shuttle launch. His exact quote to me was; "We now have an official Buck Rogers spaceship"

I also got to meet an entomologist from VaTech. We rolled up in the house ready to go to work, and he has jars and jars of dead spiders that need to be packed. My brother, whose fear of spiders is unmatched in the known universe, refused to handle the glass specimen jars with the dead spiders inside. I made an off-hand comment about not being afraid of any spider except a Black Widow, and the good doctor proceeded to introduce me to Mr Brown Recluse, a spider I had never heard of before then. What the good doctor told me has caused me to develop a habit of shaking everything I pick up before I put it on, and to always check my shoes or boots before slipping my feet into them.

In a short period of time, the venom in a Brown Recluse spider bite has the ability to cause major tissue necrosis. Necrosis is the death of living cells. The venom comes into contact with the living cells and they simply die. The result is a very painful and gruesome "flesh-rotting" open wound.

Fatalities are rare, but are most common with children, the elderly, and those in poor physical condition. The severity of the bite wound can vary greatly with some bites going unnoticed while others (though rare) reach the size of dinner plates. The amount of venom the spider injects can vary and tests indicate the spider is able to control the amount of venom injected.

Brown Recluse spider bites can be difficult to diagnose, even by physicians. Diagnostic tests to detect Brown Recluse venom in tissue are not readily available.

The incredible reporting by my colleagues at Big Government and Big Journalism on the shameful demonstration of intimidation by SEIU President Mary Kay Henry and her purple-shirted thugs this past Sunday in Washington DC has brought to light so many revelations exposing the corrupt nature of this union and their bought and paid-for allies.

Friday, May 21, 2010

“Waving signs denouncing bank “greed,” hordes of invaders poured out of 14 school buses, up Baer’s steps, and onto his front porch. As bullhorns rattled with stories of debtor calls and foreclosed homes, Baer’s teenage son Jack — alone in the house — locked himself in the bathroom. “When are they going to leave?” Jack pleaded when I called to check on him.

Baer, on his way home from a Little League game, parked his car around the corner, called the police, and made a quick calculation to leave his younger son behind while he tried to rescue his increasingly distressed teen. He made his way through a din of barked demands and insults from the activists who proudly “outed” him, and slipped through his front door.

“Excuse me,” Baer told his accusers, “I need to get into the house. I have a child who is alone in there and frightened.”

Imagine what you would have done if your child were inside that house and that mob was on your front lawn as you tried to reach him

This behavior is totally unacceptable. These people need to be arrested. This is NOT FREE SPEECH, this is public endangermnent and a violation of private property rights.

These asshats are dangerous. This is the kind of stuff that gets people killed and guess who'll get blamed?

If you're a member of SEIU and consider yourself an American first, I hope you'll speak out against this atrocious mis-use of your dues and bad behavior in general.

Montgomery County Police Not Notified of Public RallyFull disclosure-I have worked with the Montgomery County Police Department while organizing rallies. They are total professionals and public safety is Job One. The Montgomery County Police Department was deliberately not notified because had they known about this in advance, it would not have happened, I can assure you.

According to [MCPD Cpl] Friz, “members of protest groups know how far to push the envelope” and wait for “the key words” – for example, the property owner’s request that they leave – in order to avoid arrests or citations. For example, protesters are required to keep on the move, since a standing protest violates a Montgomery County code. And, while photographs clearly suggest that many of the SEIU protesters were stationary, the District police don’t have any authority to enforce Montgomery County laws.

So, let’s sum this up: A caravan of SEIU buses receive a Metropolitan (D.C.) Police Department escort to a private home in Maryland where the protesters, from all appearances, violate Montgomery County law by engaging in a stationary protest. The Montgomery County police were not informed by their cross-jurisdictional colleagues of the impending, unusually large protest pending in their jurisdiction.

What’s up with that? Had the mob decided to torch the house, the D.C. police would not have been authorized to intervene. Not their jurisdiction. They’re just escorts. Meanwhile, a teenage boy is home alone, frightened by what’s happening outside his front door.

What will it take to convince our rank and file Federal law enforcement agents that radical islamic jihadists don't turn? They will not turn against their core beliefs or allah or mohammed. They are dedicated and resolved to their mission: the destruction of Western Civilization and the imposition of sharia law. They will use that opportunity as a means of continuing the jihad and gaining intelligence.

You cannot flip a "true-believer". I'm watching the FoxNews special "American Terorist". Alwaki, Al Wacky, Al the Goat Humper...either this guy is a freaking genius the way he played the US government like a symphony, or he had some serious help from people in high/low places. Its the second scenario which is most troubling.

They're laughing at us. They're sitting over there, (or sitting here) and howling with glee at the stupidity of Westerners. They know the majority of Americans do not take the threat of jihad seriously; its just a myth; it's a lie concocted to justify actions by Western agencies and governments to eliminate islam; its a continuation of the Crusades; we want to steal their oil.

Here's a newsflash for ya, Pally: Radical islamic jihadists are lying to you about everything. From the imams who encourage and inspire, to the foot soldiers who strap on the bombs or manage to convince others to do it, to the ones who scream brutality (there's irony for ya) when they are captured. They will tell you islam is a religion of peace. That it is no threat to Western society.

THEY ARE LYING TO YOU.

Its part of their operational strategy. The koran tells them to lie to further islam. mohammed is to islam what saul alinsky is to radical socialism. The koran and rules for radicals are identical in philosphy and implementation.

Subjugation of non-muslims, implementation of sharia law and total victory over Western Civilization by inveigling.

In the age of Attorney General Eric Holder - who not only won't pursue the case against the New Black Panther Party, who won't investigate the allegations that Joe Sestak was illegally offered inducements by the Obama administration to drop his primary challenge against Arlen Specter, who won't investigate similar offers made by the Obama team to former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff to drop his primary challenge to Senator Michael Bennett, who won't investigate ACORN on possible racketeering charges, who has a blase approach towards terrorism and who cannot even utter the words "Islamic terrorism" - should we be surprised that John Morton, who heads U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, proudly declare he won't process illegal immigrants referred to them by Arizona state officials?

This team is looking at the November elections and realize their refusal to enforce federal laws can reap political payoffs.

From the New York Post's Capitol Punishment blog:

The country's top federal immigration enforcement cop says his agency won't be doing its job . "John Morton, who heads U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said his agency will not necessarily process illegal immigrants referred to them by Arizona officials. The best way to reduce illegal immigration is through a comprehensive federal approach, not a patchwork of state laws, he said.

‘I don't think the Arizona law, or laws like it, are the solution,' Morton said during a visit to the Chicago Tribune editorial board.

And Morton's opinion is relevant how exactly? Well, it is relevant in the sense that a senior Homeland Security official has openly declared that he won't be doing his job. Morton has sworn an oath to uphold the laws of the United States. He is not allowed to pick and choose which ones he likes and which he doesn't.

Perhaps Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano could do something right for a change and fire this guy.

For this administration, Lady Justice does not wear a blindfold and whether a law isenforced is determined by identity politics and one's level of savings.

It's possible Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lieberman can pull a rabbit out of a hat on this one, but I doubt it.

The trick with any global warming bill is to convince enough people that everything will change but nothing will hurt. You need enough details to appease environmentalists, while using enough sleight of hand so that no one else can tell what you're doing. This is why politicians have abandoned a straight carbon tax - it's too obvious. It's no surprise that Congress hasn't passed a global warming bill - this is a pretty hard trick to pull off.

Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, (he served in Viet Nam) and Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut Independent, have unveiled their latest effort, the American Power Act, which tries to put a new face on an old illusion. Instead of using the same, tired, global warming rhetoric the American people have soundly rejected, the Kerry-Lieberman bill is supposedly about national security or energy independence. However, the core of bill is the same cap-and-trade proposal that would drive up energy costs, cripple domestic industries and cost American jobs - with one key difference.

Kerry-Lieberman changes the landscape by using a sector-based approach. The bill targets any source with more than 25,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, which the authors estimate would affect 7,500 sources. These sources are then divided into three sectors: power plants, manufacturers and transportation. This is cap and trade via divide and conquer. By establishing separate programs for these major sectors, Kerry-Lieberman attempts to use giveaways to buy off enough opposition in each sector to pass the bill.

However, Kerry-Lieberman is more similar to Waxman-Markey than it is different. Both bills threaten green tariffs on countries that don't self-inflict austerity measures. They both include massive subsidies for politically favored energy sources and use welfare-style energy rebates to buy off consumer outrage.

Both bills also fail to put caps on either agriculture or forestry. The reasons are twofold. Simply put, farm state lawmakers would never support a bill that attacks agricultural emissions. This played out in the Waxman-Markey process when House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, Minnesota Democrat, successfully obtained absolution for farmers in exchange for his caucus' votes.

Second, cap-and-trade bills need to sell offsets as a supplemental way for covered sources to get under the cap. Both bills allow 2 billion tons in offsets per year. Land use, soil treatment and trees are the easiest ways to generate offsets. If agriculture and forestry were forced to account for their own emissions, they would simply consume all of their own offsets and would have nothing left to sell back to other regulated sources. Carbon offsets are the farm subsidies of the 21st century, which is sure to please hesitant farm state senators.

It's no wonder trust in government is at an all-time low. Citizens have seen this game before and they know what cap and trade means for them. It would be refreshing for a politician to embrace the true costs of the bill and not pretend central energy planning comes without significant pain.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Sen. Christopher Dodd's "regulatory reform" bill, S. 3217, the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010, has many contentious proposals that have members from both political parties on edge.

The bill cauterizes "too big to fail" by establishing a Financial Stability Oversight Council that would indentify politically important institutions, sending the signal that some companies are indeed too big to fail.

It creates a permanent bailout authority by authorizing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to "make available ... funds for the orderly liquidation of covered financial institutions."

snip/

However, one specific component that would make George Orwell say, "I told you so," is the establishment of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP). If the name of the agency is not enough to conjure up images of black helicopters, the description will certainly do the trick.

Established in Title 10, this new autonomous agency will be sheltered within the Federal Reserve, but will function independent of the currently established, traditional regulatory framework. Congress or any other agency will have no veto power over the BCFP.

This new agency's budget will be 12 percent of the 2009 Federal Reserve System operating budget, or approximately $646 million. In 2008, the Federal Reserve's operating budget was $2.5 billion but it increased $600 million to $3.1 billion for 2009. The 2009 budget baseline was used because it was the most inflated baseline in recent history. Rather than trimming the fat like many state budgets are forced to do in the current economic crisis, Mr. Dodd used the most inflated budget baselinehe could find to fund this agency.

This bureau is given the unprecedented authority to monitor personal bank transactions and uses personal financial data to regulate consumer choice.

Further, Section 1071 allows the BCFP to "use the data on branches and [individual and personal] deposit accounts" and "shall assess the distribution of residential and commercial accounts at such financial institution across income and minority level of census tracts; and may use the data for any other purpose as permitted by law." Never before has the federal government actively sought to aggregate data on every single personal and business financial transaction in the U.S. until now.

Forget about open-heart surgery or cutting-edge cancer treatments. Under Obamacare, you might have a hard time finding a hamburger. A statement released by White Castle, the Ohio-based burger chain, highlights how damaging Obamacare would be to small businesses and to Americans' job prospects.

White Castle reports that a single provision of Obamacare would cut its net income in half -- and then some. Jamie Richardson, a White Castle executive, says, "We’ve been working on this internally from a number of different perspectives. One [provision] that has [us] the most concerned is the $3,000 penalty that kicks in when an employee’s portion of a premium exceeds 9.5% of Household Income."

Richardson elaborates, "In present form, this provision alone would lead to approximate increased costs equal to over 55% of what we earn annually in net income (based on [our] past 4-year average). Effectively cutting our net income in half would have [a] devastating impact on the business -- cutting future expansion and more job creation at least in half. Sadly, it makes it difficult to justify growing where jobs are needed most -- in lower income areas." And that's all from just a single provision in a 2,700-page act.

The Obama administration's economic policy seems to involve dividing businesses into two categories: too big to fail, and too little to matter.

No wonder Ohioans support repeal of Obamacare by 19 percentage points (57 to 38 percent).

An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Roger Barnett, 64, began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol, he said, after they destroyed his property, killed his calves and broke into his home.

His Cross Rail Ranch near Douglas, Ariz., is known by federal and county law enforcement authorities as "the avenue of choice" for immigrants seeking to enter the United States illegally.

Trial continues Monday in the federal lawsuit, which seeks $32 million in actual and punitive damages for civil rights violations, the infliction of emotional distress andother crimes. Also named are Mr. Barnett's wife, Barbara, his brother, Donald, and Larry Dever, sheriff in Cochise County, Ariz., where the Barnetts live. The civil trial is expected to continue until Friday.

The lawsuit is based on a March 7, 2004, incident in a dry wash on the 22,000-acre ranch, when he approached a group of illegal immigrants while carrying a gun and accompanied by a large dog.

Attorneys for the immigrants - five women and 11 men who were trying to cross illegally into the United States - have accused Mr. Barnett of holding the group captive at gunpoint, threatening to turn his dog loose on them and saying he would shoot anyone who tried to escape. The immigrants are represented at trial by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which also charged that Sheriff Dever did nothing to prevent Mr. Barnett from holding their clients at "gunpoint, yelling obscenities at them and kicking one of the women."

In the lawsuit, MALDEF said Mr. Barnett approached the group as the immigrants moved through his property, and that he was carrying a pistol and threatening them in English and Spanish. At one point, it said, Mr. Barnett's dog barked at several of the women and he yelled at them in Spanish, "My dog is hungry and he's hungry for buttocks."

The lawsuit said he then called his wife and two Border Patrol agents arrived at the site. It also said Mr. Barnett acknowledged that he had turned over 12,000 illegalimmigrants to the Border Patrol since 1998.

In March, U.S. District Judge John Roll rejected a motion by Mr. Barnett to have the charges dropped, ruling there was sufficient evidence to allow the matter to be presented to a jury. Mr. Barnett's attorney, David Hardy, had argued that illegal immigrants did not have the same rights as U.S. citizens.

Mr. Barnett told The Washington Times in a 2002 interview that he began rounding up illegal immigrants after they started to vandalize his property, northeast of Douglas along Arizona Highway 80. He said the immigrants tore up water pumps, killed calves, destroyed fences and gates, stole trucks and broke into his home.

Monday, May 17, 2010

NEW YORK -- President Barack Obama promised Americans “health care reform.” So far, “health care form” is more like it.

ObamaCare is devolving into the Paper Industry Salvation Act of 2010. This new law spans 2,562 tree-killing pages. Far worse, it will force Americans to spend countless, irritating hours completing, transmitting, and filing endless reams of federal paperwork.

The scariest news for America’s forests may be a brand-new mandate that will compel each business — from General Electric to the neighborhood handyman — to file an IRS Form 1099 for every business on which it spends at least $600. Form 1099 today applies only to independent contractors, e.g. a graphic artist who earns $1,000 for designing a sales brochure. Come 2012, ObamaCare vastly will expand 1099s to sellers of goods as well as services, and not just the self-employed, but also businesses — large and small.

“This will create a two-fold whammy for small businesses,” predicts Rep. Dan Lungren (R – California) who is sponsoring legislation to repeal this provision. “They will have additional accounting costs that will consume time and money,” Lungren tells me. “They will be required to keep a running tab with every vendor, all the way from restaurants to anything they buy — a piece of equipment, an airline ticket, or a hotel room. And when they reach the $600 threshold, they will be required to file 1099s for each of those vendors.”

Washington Democrats remain divided and indifferent towards proposing a budget, missing a valuable opportunity to provide the fiscal discipline economists say is needed to create jobs and grow our economy. It also sends “the worst possible signal” to the American people and the international community that the federal government has no plan to address its fiscal crisis.

Democrats refuse to listen to the American people, who want us to work together to stop the out-of-control spending spree and focus on helping small businesses create jobs. A responsible budget would be a good place to start. Here’s a look at some of the consequences of Washington Democrats’ budget failure:

1. A missed opportunity to create jobs. For families and small businesses, Democrats’ budget failure means a missed opportunity to provide the fiscal discipline economists say is needed to create jobs and grow our economy.

2. Sends “the worst possible signal” that the federal government “has no plan” to address its fiscal crisis. With our national debt set to hit $13 trillion any day now, Democrats still have no credible plan to address our fiscal crisis. Bob Bixby, head of the non-partisan Concord Coalition, said recently: “Failure to adopt a budget resolution when fiscal resolution is needed most would send the worst possible signal. It would say to investors in Treasury securities, foreign and domestic, that the federal government is still in denial about its fiscal problems and has no plan to address the situation anytime soon.”

3. A historic failure of leadership. According to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, the House has never failed to pass a budget resolution in the modern era. It was Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) who described passing the budget as “the most basic responsibility of governing,” and Budget Chairman John Spratt (D-SC) who said, “if you can’t budget, you can’t govern.”

4. Tax hikes on the middle class and small businesses? The Heritage Foundation has noted that “not passing a budget means not carving out budgetary priorities for any extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, even for low-income families. Thus, avoiding steep tax increases during this recession will be more legislatively difficult.”

5. Punts to President Obama’s deficit commission, which most Americans view as “a cover for Congress to raise taxes.” One of Republicans’ first objections to the President’s proposed deficit commission was that it would enable Democrats to punt on fiscal responsibility, and with their failure to propose a budget, that is exactly what is happening. Most Americans, however, view the deficit commission “as cover for Congress to raise taxes.” Indeed, the commission’s recommendations may well lead to the United States adopting a European-style value added tax (VAT).

6. Washington Democrats are looking out for themselves, not the American people. Leader Hoyer has “candidly acknowledged that politics is a factor” in Democrats’ failure to propose a budget. After all, a budget blueprint would only give the American people a fuller picture of how much damage Washington Democrats’ spending spree has done to our balance sheet. One Capitol Hill newspaper has noted that Democrats “simply don’t have any good excuses not to do a budget beyond cowardice.” Families and small businesses trying to make ends meet each month don’t have the same luxury.

7. Ignores mounting evidence that America’s debt is on track to reach Greece-like levels. A new IMF report shows that our national debt is on track to exceed the size of our entire economy: “The IMF predicts that the U.S. would need to reduce its structural deficit by the equivalent of 12% of GDP… Greece, in the midst of a financial crisis, needs to reduce its structural deficit by just 9% of GDP, according to the IMF's analysis.” Greece’s debt is projected to reach 125 percent of GDP this year, the highest in the European Union.

8. Increases strain on national security resources. Gen. James Cartwright, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, emphasized the links between economic uncertainty and national security in a speech last week: “There is no precedent for sustaining the deficits that we are in right now and are projected in our future. And the ability to recover from them has no real precedent. We’ve got a significant problem in front of us and waging a war in that construct is something that we’re going to have to understand and think our way through.”

9. Paves the way for even more spending during the annual appropriations process. The Heritage Foundation has noted that not passing a budget “prevents Congress from capping discretionary spending for fiscal year (FY) 2011. The House and Senate may ‘deem’ spending targets for their appropriations committees, but the respective spending targets may not even match each other (which would create large problems when the spending bills reach the conference committee).”

10. Demonstrates the need for Republicans’ better solutions to cut spending now and make Washington do more with less. As the American people continue to ask 'where are the jobs?,’ what will it take for Democrats to work with Republicans on common-sense solutions that will actually help get people back to work and put our fiscal house in order?

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Although not fully functional and lacking in some content, CWtT is live on the web. We are currently under development and will have a lot more content soon.

We have no less than three events planned between now and 10 September. All of the events involve cooking and feeding troops or those who are making the lives of our troops more pleasant.

Our first event for Sgt Steve Kiernan was a huge success and YouServed.com has a blogpost coming out on Monday morning covering it. Of course, we have conveniently placed the widget for YouServed on our sidebar so all you have to do is scroll down a bit and viola there you are.

I'm very honored to be a part of this organization and even more humbled that The Hammer thinks enough of our efforts to join us on the Board of Directors.

What began for me as an informal, impromptu going away party/cookout in 2006 for a wounded Kentucky National Guard soldier at Walter Reed has transformed into an international effort backed up by Soldiers Angels, Warrior Legacy, hundreds of milbloggers and ordinary Americans who just want to help.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

In addition to Warrior Legacy Foundation and Cooking With the Troops, Inc. volunteering to cook a few lunches for the crews building the patio at Fisher House, United Conservatives is donating $100.00 to the project.

I challenge all members of the Old Dominion Blog Alliance to match it.

Friday, May 14, 2010

WASHINGTON EXAMINER EDITORIAL HIGHLIGHTSDon't get cocky, GOPToday's Examiner Editorial"The GOP still has a severe credibility problem, with 64 percent of those saying they favor a Republican Congress saying so because they oppose Obama and Democratic candidates."Bright economic forecasts may blind usIrwin Stelzer, Examiner Columnist"As always, things are too complicated to warrant either taking to the bomb shelters or uncorking the Champagne."Big Pharma rumbles with Big TobaccoTimothy P. Carney, Examiner Columnist"It's a full-fledged regulatory rumble between Big Tobacco and the even bigger Big Pharma -- the sort of ugly influence game that will become the norm as government sticks its arms deeper into the economy."An immigrant's view of Arizona's immigration lawJoana Suleiman, Examiner Design Editor"Most illegal immigrants are not criminals and should not be deported. We need flexible visa programs to meet business and family needs. We need comprehensive immigration reform so that borders are secure. But all the hatred directed toward Arizona is misguided."

Despite crediting the Pakistani Taliban with fostering the recent failed car bombing in Times Square, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. was reluctant Thursday to say radical Islam was part of the cause of that and other recent attacks.

Mr. Holder, testifying to the House Judiciary Committee, repeatedly balked at a half-dozen questions from Rep. Lamar Smith, the ranking Republican on the committee, about whether "radical Islam" was behind the attempted car bombing, last year's so-called "underpants bomber" or the killings at Fort Hood in Texas.

"There are a variety of reasons why people do these things. Some of them are potentially religious," Mr. Holder told the committee Thursday, though he would not go further than saying people who hold radical views may have "had an ability to have an impact" on Faisal Shahzad, the man the Justice Department says tried to detonate a car bomb in Times Square.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who has been critical of Arizona's new immigration law, said Thursday he hasn't yet read the law and is going by what he's read in newspapers or seen on television.

Mr. Holder is conducting a review of the law, at President Obama's request, to see if the federal government should challenge it in court. He said he expects he will read the law by the time his staff briefs him on their conclusions.

"I've just expressed concerns on the basis of what I've heard about the law. But I'm not in a position to say at this point, not having read the law, not having had the chance to interact with people are doing the review, exactly what my position is," Mr. Holder told the House Judiciary Committee.

This weekend Mr. Holder told NBC's "Meet the Press" program that the Arizona law "has the possibility of leading to racial profiling." He had earlier called the law's passage "unfortunate," and questioned whether the law was unconstitutional because it tried to assume powers that may be reserved for the federal government.

Rep. Ted Poe, who had questioned Mr. Holder about the law, wondered how he could have those opinions if he hadn't yet read the legislation.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Upright"True judicial restraint asks the question: 'What does the Constitution actually say?' and then limits Supreme Court decisions to an honest application of the law." --David McIntosh, co-founder of the Federalist Society and former congressman from Indiana

"It will be tempting but futile to ask [Elena] Kagan whether she thinks Congress's enumerated power to regulate interstate commerce is elastic enough to justify requiring individuals to buy health insurance. That is, does the power to regulate interstate commerce give Congress the power to punish the inactivity of not making a private purchase from a private health-care provider? If the commerce clause is sufficiently elastic, in what sense do we still have limited government -- government limited by the Constitution?" --columnist George Will

"Some of the senators -- not most, but some -- will be interested to know what [Kagan] thinks of the Constitution as the Founders wrote it. President Obama will want her to rule on the law as decent and high-minded folk like him think it ought to be, not what it is. The gay community, which rarely seems very gay, expects her to be a reliable vote for changing the definition of marriage and for remaking the military into something Barney Frank can be proud of. Since Mzz Kagan has argued that the Supreme Court's role is mainly to tend the interests of 'the despised and disadvantaged,' somebody will be disappointed." --Washington Times editor emeritus Wesley Pruden

"What we're seeing in Greece is the death spiral of the welfare state. This isn't Greece's problem alone, and that's why its crisis has rattled global stock markets and threatens economic recovery. Virtually every advanced nation, including the United States, faces the same prospect. Aging populations have been promised huge health and retirement benefits, which countries haven't fully covered with taxes. The reckoning has arrived in Greece, but it awaits most wealthy societies." --columnist Robert J. Samuelson

"Anyone who thinks Greece isn't the proverbial canary in the coal mine is in a coma. See if this sounds familiar: out-of-control spending, a bloated, self-entitled public service sector, a mountain of accumulated debt, trillions of dollars in unfunded mandates -- and a corrupt political class completely out of touch with the people. With precious few exceptions, what nation couldn't be plugged into the above description?" --columnist Arnold Ahlert

"Have you ever noticed how liberals desire to be judged by open minds and met with understanding when their policies fail, while all the while they've zero tolerance for anything less than perfection in their political opponents? If so, you only have to remember they view 'big oil' as an appendage of the Republican Party to know that one major spill in forty years is no better in their eyes than one major spill every two years." --columnist AWR Hawkins

So, from now until the end of May, every quart of BBQ sauce ordered will generate 20 bucks for the Fisher House Project. Links are on the left and yes, WLF is a 501c3.

All orders will ship on 1 June and you will be invited to join us for the free lunch. Keep a copy of your receipt and bring it with you.

Personal Observation:I remember when Mologne House at Walter Reed didn't have a patio, and now it does, and the difference it has made is remarkable. I would love to see something similar down here, but thats reaching a little far. The patio at Mologne House was a half million dollar project, if it was a dime.It has built in grills, concrete pavers, three different levels, and a fireplace on the main patio. Class act. We use it when we do our cookouts, and I look forward to every event at Walter Reed.

The FCC, a New Deal relic, derives its current authority from the Telecommunications Act of 1996. At the time the law was enacted, Congress wisely decided to take a hands-off approach to the Internet by creating a new "information service" category explicitly designed to remain free from the tangle of red tape that the agency layers on top of telephone service, cable, broadcast television and radio.

[FCC Chairman] Mr. Genachowski, however, is upset that this plain reading of the statute deprives him of the authority to "safeguard privacy," "empower consumers" and "lower the costs of investment." He seeks to remedy this by imposing new rules on the Internet's network infrastructure. In a rather Orwellian fashion, he claims these regulations would not involve regulating the Internet itself. Mr. Genachowski insists that he has no intention of meddling with online content.

Even if that's true, his proposal remains deeply troubling. If a federal agency is allowed to ignore court rulings and erase laws with which it disagrees, there would be no restraint on what a future chairman might do. Surely, if the federal government can provide a "good reason" to reclassify broadband services as telecommunications, it can come up with a "good reason" to prevent such bad language on the Internet or even extend its reclassifications to cover cable television programs on HBO and Showtime.

Absent legal constraints, the agency could even resurrect the Fairness Doctrine and apply it to the Internet. This rule, created during the 1940s, required that broadcast stations give equal time to both sides of controversial issues, but it had the unintended consequence of discouraging stations from discussing anything controversial. The scheme was ultimately canceled by President Reagan's FCC in 1987, a move that ushered in a revival of talk radio.

Neither President Obama nor his appointees have the authority to unilaterally rewrite the law when it suits their convenience. If Mr. Obama wants to impose controls on the Internet, he must go to Congress and ask for the new power - a request not likely to be granted. Members of Congress and the general public appreciate that the Internet's greatness lies in its unregulated, Wild West nature. As the FCC opens its proposals to public comment, we hope that readers deliver the clear message that federal "help" is neither needed nor desired online.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Patriotic Americans all across the nation are being called on to 'flaunt the American flag' on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 by wearing patriotic-themed clothing such as American flag style shirts, blouses, ties or jackets; American flag lapel pins or brooches; and by displaying the American flag at home, on your car or at your desk at work. You can even carry an American flag with you as you make your rounds on Wednesday and really flaunt that flag!

This is being done as a show of support for the American families in Morgan Hill, California whose students attending Live Oak High School were ordered to remove their American flag style shirts so as to not offend Mexican students on Cinco de Mayo last week.

Offended Mexican students walked out of class the next day and staged a protest march demanding "respect" for "our holiday" by demanding Americans not display the American flag on American soil.

One protester, Luis Jimenez, was videotaped by KNTV-TV saying, "Yesterday, it was our holiday, Cinco de Mayo. All of, like, the Americans thought they could wear their flags and just flaunt them in front of us."

Another Mexican protester was videotaped by KRON-TV ripping an American flag out of the hands of an American that same day.

In response, please send this message: We Americans will flaunt our flag on our soil anytime we please. If some folks don't like that, we have an old saying for them, "America, love it or leave it!"

Please e-mail and post this call to action on blogs, Facebook, Twitter and send it to your local and national Tea Party groups and talk radio hosts.

(Note to all the race-baiting liberals and weak-kneed David Brooks types, this is not about race, or even about Mexico. This is about Americans standing up for America on American soil. If you can't handle displays of patriotism, the same message above applies to you too.)

If anyone asks who started this and why May 12, just say it was started by a TEA-ed off American and May 12 just seems like a good day to wear the red, white and blue.

DC Protest Warrior: Saturday Morning Sgt Steve Kiernan HomesiteThe Marime Corps flag you see was presented to Sgt Steve Kiernan by members of DCFreeRepublic and DCProtestWarrior in recognition of his service to our country.This Marine Corps flag has flown at the Main Gate of Walter Reed Army Medical center during the DC Chapter's weekly troop support rally, and was used during Protest Warrior's Defend the White House Rally in September 2005. It has a storied history and is well travelled.

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